Elections in Belarus are more open, democratic — CIS mission

MINSK, September 12. /TASS/. Elections to the House of Representatives of the Belarusian National Assembly were more open and democratic than the previous ones, Sergei Lebedev, the Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and head of the CIS mission of observers, said on Monday.

"The current elections were more transparent and better organized, more open and democratic," he said, adding that "the elections went off smoothly and were well organized."

The CIS mission recognized that Belarus ensured "free expression of citizens’ will, and the elections were held in accordance with the country’s Constitution and electoral legislation." The observers pointed to "transparency, openness and free nature" of the parliamentary elections.

On September 11, Belarus held elections to the National Assembly’s House of Representatives (lower house of parliament). According to the country’s Central Election Commission, lawmakers were elected in all districts, with 110 districts electing 110 parliamentarians out of 494 contenders. The final voter turnout was 74,8%. During the 2012 parliamentary elections the turnout was 74.61%.

The CIS mission includes 334 representatives from nine CIS member-countries. The mission worked on monitoring preparations and the progress of voting since July 1.